A Banitsa Cheese Pie resembles the coil of a snail and tastes like a Greek delicacy. The cozy mystery Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust provides a fun mystery involving both decadent Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and healthy kale smoothies. Somewhere in the middle is Delilah and a cast of interesting characters.
This is book #2 in the Deep Dish Mysteries Series. Set in a pizzeria in Wisconsin, Delilah and Son make excellent food and solve fun mysteries. One of the strengths of this series is the relatable characters. Delilah is as loveable as she is flawed and that serves to make her realistic. Delilah has to deal with her ex-fiance, his new girlfriend and a few murders that seem to involve everyone.
Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust by Mindy Quigley
Banitsa Bulgarian Cheese Pie
from a cozy mystery
Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust
by Mindy Quigley
Breaking News! Mindy Quigley won 2026 Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel for book 5 in this series At Death’s Dough!
Book Outline and Tone:
Pizzeria owner, Delilah, is the salt of the earth, albeit a hot tempered one. Along with her partner Son, they make irresistible Chicago Deep Dish Pizza in a small Wisconsin town, just north of Chicago. While Delilah is a talented and experienced chef, running a restaurant is a difficult financial task. To help bring in more dough, she enters a Taste of Wisconsin contest and spends much of the novel trying to decide which dish she should enter.
There is a murder that involves a health food smoothie, and while I’m tempted to blame the death on kale, the mystery is more complex than that. Delilah’s ex-fiancé is now involved with a health guru who touts blending and drinking all sorts of items that I would rather have in a salad than a drink.
As this is just the second book in this series, the characters are continuing to develop in interesting ways. Delilah and Detective Calvin Capone’s connection continues to grow. And as Delilah continues to make personal growth, it is her relationship with Butterball the cat that pushes her the most. As a cat owner, my heart was breaking. The novel’s resolution is very satisfying and makes me want to pick up the next book.
Point of View:
The novel is written in a third person limited point of view with Delilah as the focus.
The Author: Mindy Quigley
Author Mindy Quigley is an award winning author of two series, the Mount Moriah Mysteries and this one, Deep Dish Mysteries. The tagline on her website reads “Sometimes murder is a laughing matter.” This slogan seems perfect for this series. Her website has questions to use for a book club and a place to sign up for her newsletter. The first question on the book club page is “Delilah O’Leary has some rough edges. Do you like the character?” This first question perfectly sums up my review. She does have rough edges, but I do like her and will be picking up the next book to see how she grows. Mindy is active on social media. You can connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads.
What is not to like?:
I look forward to the development of the secondary characters. We don’t know much about Son yet and the restaurant workers, including Jarka (the Bulgarian who provided the recipe for the Banitsa Cheese Pie). There are enough characters to keep us entertained for many more novels.
The verdict:
The Banitsa Cheese Pie is easy, impressive, and delicious. It will make for a great appetizer to bring to a party. Even though it is baked in a pie plate, I cut it in the strips and squares.
Delilah is a great character who is so realistic, you just might relate to her personality flaws. Realistic characters dealing with real problems make this a fantastic series.
Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).
Banitsa Bulgarian Cheese Pie
Assemble the Ingredients
Correction! The above picture contains puff pastry, as I was about to assemble I realized I needed phyllo dough instead. A quick trip to the store and I was back to assembling.
Instructions: Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F. Make a greasy 9-inch pie plate with a little oil or melted butter.
Crack the eggs into a medium-sized bowl and beat them not too hard.
OXO Good Grips 3- Piece Plastic Mixing Bowl Set LInk
Add the yogurt and baking soda. Mix until foamy.
Stir the feta cheese into the mixture.
Unroll the phyllo pastry, then paint the melted butter on one phyllo sheet.
Silicone Pastry Mat for Rolling Dough 16" x 24", Red LINK
Then, put two or three spoonsful of egg-and-cheese mixture on top of this phyllo sheet, leaving about 3-5 centimeters of space all around the edges.
Spread the mixture around the center of the pastry dough. Gently for this, like you are stroking the cheek of a very small, small baby, or else you will rip the dough.
Roll the sheet of phyllo pastry up loosely like a log, starting from the long side.
Beginning from the center of the pie plate, place each filled log next to each other on your pie plate. Little by little, this will form a spiral shape like a magnificent snail.
Keep doing this until you have done this with all of your pastry or you cannot fit any more pastry.
If you have left any melted butter, brush it on top of the whole pie and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden.
Leave to cool for 20 minutes before you cut the pieces.
Serve with extra yogurt for the side, and also have a glass of fruit liqueur such as rakia.
Banitsa Bulgarian Cheese Pie
Ingredients
- Oil or butter, for greasing the pan
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup 250 grams natural Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp 7 grams baking soda
- 2 cups 400 grams finely crumbled feta cheese
- 10-15 phyllo pastry sheets, defrosted if frozen
- 8 Tbsp 115 grams unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F.
- Grease a 9-inch pie plate with a little oil or melted butter.
- Crack the eggs into a medium-sized bowl and beat them not too hard.
- Add the yogurt and baking soda. Mix until foamy.
- Stir the feta cheese into the mixture.
- Unroll the phyllo pastry, then paint the melted butter on one phyllo sheet.
- Put two or three spoonsful of egg-and-cheese mixture on top of this phyllo sheet, leaving about 3-5 centimeters of space all around the edges.
- Spread the mixture around the center of the pastry dough. Gently for this, like you are stroking the cheek of a very small, small baby, or else you will rip the dough.
- Roll the sheet of phyllo pastry up loosely like a log, starting from the long side.
- Beginning from the center of the pie plate, place each filled log next to each other on your pie plate. Little by little, this will form a spiral shape like a magnificent snail.
- Keep doing this until you have done this with all of your pastry or you cannot fit any more pastry.
- If you have left any melted butter, brush it on top of the whole pie and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until golden.
- Leave to cool for 20 minutes before you cut the pieces.
- Serve with extra yogurt for the side, and also have a glass of fruit liqueur such as rakia.
What would I do differently next time?
Delicious as is, but since I cut it into squares to eat as an appetizer, I think I might add a little rosemary next time. If that is sacrilegious to those who enjoy a traditional Bulgarian pie, please forgive this suggestion.
Here are some more delightful savory recipes.
Summer Corn Casserole from Death of a Cookbook Author by Lee Hollis
Lemon Cornbread from Stake & Eggs by Laura Childs
Asiago, Bacon, and Caramelized Onion Dip from Death of a Wedding Cake Baker by Lee Hollis
Cheesy Polenta with Vegetables from Death with all the Trimmings by Lucy Burdette
